Prologue 5: Essence of 24-Hour Cinderella Road「Requiem」MAX ACT the Nutpocalypse Over Heaven
The first to react to the sudden appearance of Majima was none other than Battler, who was pointing towards him completely flabbergasted. "When? I didn't—" He glanced back towards the trio, who were all entirely stone-faced. "When did he get there?"
"When he wanted to find us probably. Majima Everywhere System is the fucking strong," Trent answered, looking entirely too at peace with that fact.
"But how? I didn't see him go—" Battler locked eyes with each of the three in quick succession before Alphonse raised a hand and appeased him.
"Look, don't think too hard about it," he said with a long suffering sigh. "You can try to demystify Beatrice's magic all you want, we won't stop you. Trying the same with him is where a line has to be drawn for your own safety. Please, if you're gonna trust us on one thing at any point in your life, let it be this."
"Just accept that Majima is going to mystify you, and roll with the punches. It's the healthiest way to live with his existence in the same universe as yours," the Canuck advised candidly, watching the Yakuza bound over to them like a natural in his ATs.
"Now, as I said, how the Hell'm I supposed ta use these things?" Goro asked as he looked between the Witch and the other lads.
"Bruh, just rock some of that 24 Hour Cinderella magic," Trent put forth, rolling about on his own heelies.
The eyepatched man looked down at his own footwear, and then at the Canadian. He then skated about the area, going through some dance moves as he did so. He popped up and too a stop, nodding his head as he declared, "This is some pretty easy shit!"
The witch, for her part, watched the way the cyclops moved with an expression stuck between amusement and horror. "Well, he's certainly miles ahead of all of you," Beatrice noted, still shaken by the appearance of the man and his statement regarding Behemoth. "There is room for improvement, but I think that if left to his own devices, he would do fine as a Storm Rider."
Johan nodded. "Not surprising; the Mad Dog of Shimano possesses the ferocity to back up his title, to say nothing of his skill."
"He has enough skill to ride on his own, is there a particular reason why you said he was interested in learning?" the woman asked suspiciously.
Trent chuckled nervously, and drifted back away from the Witch as he answered, "He wants to throwdown with Behemoth."
Her skin paled and all mirth left her in an instant. "Are you people even sane? They may be D rank, but their strength is unmatched; even I wouldn't dare stand in their way."
"It's fine," the blond declared, his expression clearly more one of someone who had lost complete control of his life than anything else. "It's fine."
Johan chuckled wryly. "Sanity is overrated anyways."
"This is no laughing matter, you fools," Beatrice practically hissed at them. "What do you even think a Storm Rider is? Behemoth is far, far beyond the average Rider."
"What is a Storm Rider, you ask?" Johan mused aloud. "Are they not the spawn of Icarus, those who burn away their wings in hopes of closing their fingers about the sun?" He closed his eyes. "To be sure, Behemoth is beyond us now; we are no fools. However…" The brunet's eyes snapped open as he ran a hand through his hair. "That will not always be the case, for we are motivated."
Alphonse couldn't help but put a palm to his face due to the sheer chuuni that his shitlord of a friend radiated.
"To be honest though, Storm Riders are people who push themselves to their limits and tear themselves apart to do sick nasty tricks. As for Behemoth…" Trent trailed off, his shoulders tensed from the thought of actually getting in the Cubes with them. "However, they're all hyper specialized, which is a way to help deal with them."
"Putting aside your frankly suicidal overconfidence, do you know the potential ramifications of fighting against Behemoth?" the Witch snapped at them. "Is your objective to take them down? Behemoth is so large you would leave an immense power vacuum. Everyone would jump at the chance to seize their territory, leading to outright war."
"Eh, it's not like Majima doesn't plan to claim Under-Colosseo and the sewers for himself. Also, there's the fact that despite being made of a huge number of disparate factions, Behemoth is surprisingly cohesive. I'd not be surprised if the remnants reformed to take over the lost territory," the Aryan Canadian replied blandly, thinking on the fact that they were going to have to gear up for the Parts War in general.
"I'm so lost right now. What are you people even going on about?" Battler cut into the conversation. "Behemoth? Wars? Under-Colosseo? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Maybe we should slow down a bit, yeah?" the Mexican sighed. "It's not like we'd fight them next Sunday or something."
"I can't in good conscience teach you only so that you may walk to your own deaths." Beatrice added while shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I may have said yes already, but that was before you informed me of all of this."
"I mean, we're getting into AT, that's basically like sticking one's dick into a piranha tank after covering it in cow blood," Trent grunted as he collapsed into a Slav squat. "We are literally playing with our lives already."
"Plus, it's not like we have any intention of dying," Johan added seriously. "ATs are dangerous, and going up against a group such as Behemoth is even more so. But in the end, Behemoth are but human. They have worked incredibly hard to get where they are, granted, but there should be no reason at all that we can't reach that level ourselves." He scratched his head sheepishly. "I'd like to think that we've got enough sense between the three of us to know when to fight and when to withdraw and improve ourselves, at least."
"That all sounds magical, but how'm I supposed to get rid of the brats muckin' up my boys in the sewers?" the Yakuza interjected acerbically, looking none too impressed with the others.
The Canadian slowly put pressure on the front of his feet, and began rolling forward, becoming a mobile Slav Squat machine as he remarked, "Basically, you'll need a team of teenagers with attitude…or, you know, sufficiently skilled Storm Riders, in order to challenge Behemoth to a proper Parts War, with their territory on the line."
"How many's enough people to fight them, then?" the Cyclops inquired, doing a quick pirouette in order to show off just how quickly he was acclimating to his ATs.
"Five is the minimum number," the Witch replied, unenthused, before glancing at Trent. "You're certainly knowledgeable about the world of ATs for a beginner, how far does that knowledge go?"
"Far enough, I suppose. Google's a good friend of mine, after all." Even as he tried to laugh it off, the Canuck was internally scolding himself. He hadn't meant to get anyone so suspicious of his knowledge yet, but on the other hand, at least Beatrice wasn't Sora.
Sliding in and out of a split, Goro snorted, "Does it really matter? The kid's been helpful, an' he seems ta know what he's talkin' about."
"It's strange, maybe even suspicious to some. But I guess there's no need to overthink it," Beatrice said while shaking her head slightly and sighing. She brought her kiseru back to her mouth and took a deep drag from it.
Letting the smoke away from all of the other people around her, she spoke up again. "I suppose you're all right on your points. Storm Riders do put their lives in the line, but I was rather shocked that you'd be so willing to do so at this point." The witch looked over at the trio. "I'll teach you what I can in spite of my qualms regarding your intent, but do try to be careful. I'd rather not have to visit you in the morgue."
Johan briefly considered quoting the saint of shitposting, Papa Franku himself, but decided that it wasn't quite the time for jokes about death. Instead, he simply gave Beatrice a nod and replied with a small grin, "We'll be in your care, then. I look forward to walking the path of the warlock."
"Well, we do kinda owe Majima for quite something, so I'd be willing to help him out because of that. And while I've no desire to die, I'm sure that Majima would be willing to give us time to actually get good at ATs, and that's if he asks us to help him out," Trent interjected, doing small circles and loops in his squat. "Besides, acts of mercy, no matter how large or small, are good civilization, so I'll be sure to lend a hand."
"Ditto, I don't wanna die. Even if I end up wishing I'd never been born at all at some point," Alphonse said in monotone. "A debt's a debt and I'd rather not have it hanging over my head for the rest of my life."
Johan nodded sagely, "Yes...dying is bad, and debt ain't great either."
The Yak looked between the lot of them, a small grin on his face as he spoke up, "Well, ain't that just sweet! I'll hafta look for you guys when that time comes, or, better yet, I'll make sure Blondie here gets you guys up to snuff!"
"…I mean, I won't complain, but do you have the time to actually do that?" the Canuck politely inquired, making a point to not act like he knew too much.
The cyclopean man just laughed. "It's fine, my business kinda just runs itself, and if any of the guys tryin' make off with more than their cut…" Goro's face twisted into a frightening grimace, "Well, it wouldn't end well for them, let's just put it like that."
Beatrice looked like she was even less enthusiastic than she had been after hearing the rather shady dealings of the man. That along with his tattoos probably gave her a good idea of the specifics.
Realizing that they'd never actually introduced the two, Trent coughed to clear his throat, "Right, forgot to introduce the two of you. Miss Beatrice, this is Goro Majima, our benefactor. Mister Majima, this here is Beatrice, the Golden Witch, and she's a damn good Storm Rider."
The cycloptic yakuza looked at the witch in the ballgown and nodded, "Nice to meetcha, Betty."